[ applause ] >> he was the very symbol of the city itself. >> brash. brave. funny. outspoken. sharp. >> ed koch brought new york city back from the brink when he was elected mayor in 1977. >> somebody thought i could win. but i got my message out. people believed it. they voted for me. it was a shock. >> he was born in 1924, newark, new jersey. served in world war ii and took on the democratic hall of the 1960s as a reformed democrat before elected councilman and congressman and moving to city hall where he inherited a city besieged by crime, public unrest and near bankruptcy. but by force of his personality he put new york back on the path to solvency. >> when i came in, the city was in a state of short-term debt. of $6 billion we had to eliminate if four-year period and we did it over three-year period. i'm very proud of what we did. >> by his third term in 1989, ration tension and homelessness took their toll. he was defeated in the democratic primary and went on to remain publicly active as a beloved citizen. >> and as i said when i left office, i'm never going to retire.